When I met Carl Anderson for breakfast at Denny's recently, something about him gave me pause. His shirt and slacks were the gray worn by powerful people traveling incognito. He told me he was a retired psychologist, but more than one restaurant employee approached him with looks of sheepish wonder rarely commanded by retired psychologists.

And then there was his appearance. White beard, twinkling eyes, cherry complexion, propensity for rumbling belly laughter.

No, I thought, he couldn't be.

Or could he?

Anderson's cover story sounds like it was ripped out of a Hallmark Channel movie: Since 1988, he has come to town each year to portray Santa at NorthPark Center. He says he spends the rest of the year in "Austin," and yet, for a retired psychologist, he seems suspiciously familiar with weather patterns and wildlife in the North Pole. A key part of his cover story: He said he once interviewed dozens of children about their belief in Santa so he could write a dissertation on how kids discover the truth about Santa Claus.

The clincher, though, is his skill with children. Shortly before I met Anderson, my younger daughter suffered a crisis of faith in Christmas magic. Anderson got on the phone and somehow talked her elf down from the shelf where it had gotten mysteriously stuck.

Waking, sleeping, naughtiness, niceness — the man knows kids. Above all, he knows what they want for Christmas. If you don't believe me, read his list at santasays.org, where he blogs about his conversations with children. It's right there in ALL CAPS (only Santa Claus could get away with conducting digital communication exclusively in all caps.)

Sample from the list: "I WANT A ROBOT PUPPY, A FOOT SPA, AND A BOYFRIEND FOR GRANDMA.

Here are some of Santa Carl's thoughts on his Norse god roots, reindeer and howling babies.

First thing I want to ask is if you would let me pull your beard.

Sure. You're welcome to. As I tell the little ones, gently.

OK. For the record, it's real. I asked my daughters if they had any questions for Santa Claus, so let's start with some of those. They wondered how old Santa is.

Well, I usually respond with a line that was made famous in Miracle on 34th Street, which is, "I'm old as my nose and a little bit older than my teeth."

As Santa, I'm aware that I have a quite extensive history. There's always been a midwinter gift bringer figure, basically, as long as we have records. Back a long, long time ago during the solstice midwinter celebrations, people would gather together and have a festival. They would exchange gifts, sort of on the notion that even though there wasn't much to go around, they were giving a validation of faith that the good times would return again; the sun would come back.

At that point in that time, Thor and Odin were seen as gods that would travel in the sky and in chariots drawn by goats, so you can kind of see the roots.

But then as things evolved and they developed differently in different cultures, then St. Nicholas eventually started to morph into Santa Claus. Thomas Nast, the illustrator, in the 19th century and the early 20th, sort of typified the original Santa illustrations, which were of a smaller elfish-type figure.

Then the classical look today is based on the Coca-Cola Santa Claus, which was developed by a fellow named Haddon Sundblom, who was Norwegian, and so was his gardener. He used his gardener as a model, and then he used himself later on. I am Swedish in part by heritage, so I came by the look naturally.

Santa Claus listens to 3 year-old Abigail Campos of Richardson as she makes a visit to his cottage house at NorthPark Center in Dallas on Dec. 13, 2018. For the past 30 years, Carl Anderson has portrayed Santa at NorthPark. He has story time for children before sitting and listening to their Christmas wishes.

(Tom Fox/Staff Photographer)

Santa Claus tells a story to children gathered outside his cottage house at NorthPark Center in Dallas on Dec. 13, 2018. For the past 30 years, Carl Anderson has portrayed Santa at NorthPark.

(Tom Fox/Staff Photographer)

Santa Claus visits with kids outside his cottage at NorthPark Center in Dallas on Dec. 13, 2018. For the past 30 years, Carl Anderson has portrayed Santa at NorthPark. He has story time for children before sitting and listening to their Christmas wishes.

Dallas Cowboys mascot Rowdy gives a high-five to Santa Claus, played by Carl Anderson, during the 2016 Angel Tree Extravaganza for The Salvation Army Angel Tree at NorthPark Center on Black Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, in Dallas.

(File Photo/David Woo)

Santa Claus, played by Carl Anderson, hears a gift request by Roman Kister, 7, of Dallas, at NorthPark Center in Dallas on Friday Dec. 18, 2015.

(Andy Jacobsohn/Staff Photographer)

While most children can't wait to see Santa and tell him their Christmas wish list, Kathryn Dickerson, 2, was a little fearful and started to cry. Carl Anderson, who has portrayed Santa Claus at North Park Mall for decades, has documented his experience as Santa in several journals he has kept over the years of what children whisper to him as their Christmas wishes.

(2000 File Photo/Staff)

For the most part, Carl John Anderson has very little preparation for his portrayal of Santa Claus at North Park Mall during the Christmas season. But back stage, Dr. Anderson uses a curling iron to curl his chest-length beard before donning his red Santa suit for an eight- to 10-hour day with children whispering their Christmas wishes.

(2000 File Photo/Staff)

Michael Francingues of the Schreiber Methodist preschool helps Carl Anderson as Santa Claus as he participates in story hour at NorthPark Center in Dallas on Dec. 8, 1995.

(File Photo)

What do you think would be the best present anybody could get for Christmas?

Well, one little boy, and I think he was about 5, and he said what he wanted for Christmas was peace on earth and a red bike.

Some of the 5-year-olds come up with some of the best things. There are a lot of children, probably more than people might think, that don't necessarily ask for something for themselves. They ask for something for the world at large.

What kind of stuff do kids want for Christmas?

Let me give you a few, because I was looking over my notes. Sometimes kids seem to think Santa's fairly dull. One kid said, "I want toys," and I said, "What kind?" He said, "The kind you play with."

Another one said, "I want a bike." I said, "Where will you ride it?" He said, "On the seat." They're kind of going, "Come on, Santa, get with it a little bit."

Here's another 5-year-old one: I said, "What do you want?" And he said, "Whatever is in Santa's heart for me." Then in terms of our modern day life, "What do you want?" "Peace on earth and a cellphone." I'm not sure that those two aren't diametrically opposed.

Again, about being good, "I've got a baby brother. It's hard to be good when you have a baby brother." To another 5-year-old, I said, "Have you been good?" And he said, "Well, I'm a normal 5-year-old boy," which was wisdom beyond his years.

I love this one, "Have you been good?" "No." "Well, sometimes?" "No." "Sort of?" "No, not really. I try to clean up my room, but it never really worked out. I'm even grounded tonight."

One little boy gave me a stick of gum. He gave it to me, and he winked and he said, "There's plenty more where that comes from."

That guy is going to be a wheeler-dealer. Probably CEO of Goldman Sachs.

Right. Sometimes I ask them what they're going to leave for me. This kid looked at me, said, "SlimFast. You know why."

What did you do before you were Santa Claus?

Psychologist was my original goal, but I became aware of children's reactions to my appearance as Santa when I was getting closer to 30. I was over at the university [in Austin], and I was walking across the street one day. I had grown my beard and my hair long in the early '70s after I got out of high school because that's what most people did. I was walking across the crosswalk. Coming the other way was a group of preschoolers, and they all were holding onto those ropes that they do sometimes so the teachers can keep them together. I was going this way, they were going that way. One of them looked up and yelled, "Santa Claus!" They dropped the rope, and I was suddenly being inundated with all these little ones.

This is your 30th year at NorthPark. Looking back 30 years ago, what is different, or are the kids just pretty much exactly like they were?

The youngest ones certainly are. Now, they've all gotten introduced to technology. I have little 4- or 5-year-olds saying they want an iPad for Christmas or an Apple Watch or something like that. The toys that they're asking for have changed a little bit, but the basic dynamics haven't.

Children believe as much as they ever did. I mean, there may be some who are ahead of themselves in sophistication these days because they tend to get educated a lot more. I found in my dissertation and in the studies before that, the average age is right between 7 and 8, somewhere in there. The process is one where they make a decision to no longer believe. It's best if that's what happens. It's not as good if the truth is just foisted upon them by some well-meaning or otherwise older sibling or parents or what have you.

Parents often say, "Well, they asked me if Santa is real. What should I say?" I respond like a psychologist: "Ask them why they're asking." Sometimes what kids are asking is, "I want to be able to continue to believe," so respond in that direction. Other times they're saying, "Let's put our cards on the table. I know what the deal is." In that case, be ready to explain to them your part in it and why you participated.

One of the parents I spoke to said he and his wife have always come every year to see you. But the family stopped coming because their babies just freak out. He was wondering, how do you deal with all the freaking-out babies?

I used to have a very difficult time with it, but what I've come to realize is that from the parents' perspective, and it's great if they're not this way, but sometimes they're more interested in the picture than they are with the kids having a visit. The picture is a symbol where they can see the child growing older with the same Santa over the years.

It also depends upon the child. Sometimes it's just a little cry. That's OK, and we always have them come back as soon as possible. When they are doing the all-out wrestling, screaming, we take a quick picture and have the parents pick them up right away.

Is that the toughest part of Santa Claus' job?

No, no. One of the toughest parts is when kids ask for something that I'm not able to do. They want mom and dad to get back together again, or this year I had a little girl who wanted to see her grandfather, who apparently had passed away when she was very young. She never got to meet him. Those sorts of things are harder.

Rob Curran is a writer in Denton. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.